Best Times to Post on Social Media [Infographic]

Super savvy social media managers don’t just share engaging content. They share it at optimal times.

The truth is:

Your fans and followers prefer using social media sites during specific hours of the day. So if you share your content when users are on these social sites, your content will not just get more eyeballs, but also get more shares and traffic.

As a result, it’s important that you master the art of sharing content on social media at optimal times.

So when is the best time to post on social media? A million-dollar question!

Sadly, there is no easy answer to this question. You need to factor in different time zones, the nature and size of your business, and of course, keep in mind that each social network is different.

But luckily, several experts have attempted to decipher the science behind the best times to post on social media, offering key takeaways and findings that can help us schedule social messages at times that get the most traffic and engagement.

So, for this article, I’ve analyzed and referenced several research studies on the topic, including research conducted by:

How to Factor in Different Time Zones While Posting on Social Media?

As mentioned earlier, posting on social media becomes even more complicated when you factor in different time zones of your audience.

It’s important to understand where your audience is in order to target their time zones accordingly. Luckily, you can get sufficient data on this through Google Analytics.

Sources featured in this article have mainly considered Eastern Time (ET) or Central Time (CT) zones to research and compile their reports, since 80% of the population in the US is in the ET or CT zones.

Image Credit: CoSchedule

For the sake of simplicity, the time zones featured in this article are in ET. But if you’re targeting people outside the US, I’d urge you to spend some time analyzing your website traffic data on Google Analytics and figure out which time zones majority of your audience falls under.

And finally, figure out the time zones of your followers on different social channels using their built-in analytics tools. Ex: Twitter Analytics, Facebook Insights, etc.

Best Times to Post on Social Media [Infographic]

This infographic highlights the best times to post content on each social network. I’ve taken six of the most popular social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+ for consideration.

There is more in-depth analysis and expert opinions below the infographic.

Now let’s take a closer look at each of the social networks and see what experts have to say about the best time to post on social media.

1. Best Times to Post on Instagram

Instagram is mainly accessed from mobile devices. As such, Instagram engagement remains consistent throughout the week, with slight spikes on Monday and a slight dip on Saturdays. So, feel free to post content on Instagram any day of the week.

2. Best Times to Post on Facebook

Users access Facebook on both mobile devices and desktop computers, both at work and at home.

The best time to post on Facebook is 1-4PM on Thursday and Friday. Other optimal times include 12–1PM on weekends.

What the Experts Say About the Best Times to Post on Facebook?

According to Neil Patel, early afternoon is the best time to post on Facebook. 1PM will get you the most shares, while 3PM will get you the most clicks.

FastCompany believes that the best times to share on Facebook are 1–4PM, and the peak time is Wednesdays at 3PM. Overall, Fast Company says that the worst time to post is after 8PM on weekends.

According to Buffer, engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays.

3. Best Times to Post on Twitter

People use Twitter more like an RSS feed. It’s something they tune into during down times like commutes, breaks, and so on. Like Facebook, users access Twitter both on desktop and mobile devices, both at work and at home.

The best time to tweet is during weekdays from 12–3PM. The peak best time of day to tweet is 5PM. Avoid tweeting between 8PM and 9AM.

5. Best Times to Post on LinkedIn

As LinkedIn is a professional network, the best days to post are during the workweek, preferably Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

The best time to post on LinkedIn is between 5–6PM. Tuesday posts get higher engagement than any other day.

Avoid posting between 10PM-6AM.

What the Experts Say About the Best Times to Post on LinkedIn?

According to FastCompany, the best days to post on LinkedIn are Tuesday through Thursday with the optimal time to post being noon and 5–6PM. The worst time is after 8 PM.

CoSchedule recommends posting to LinkedIn at 8–9AM, 4PM, and 6PM to get more traffic and engagement.

6. Best Times to Post on Google+

Before you argue that posting content on Google+ is useless, I recommend you check out this post. Believe it or not, it’s still possible to leverage Google+ to drive consistent amount of traffic back to your site as long as you’re willing to put some effort.

Workday morning is the best time to post to Google+, preferably between 9-11AM. Avoid posting content during weekends.

What the Experts Say About the Best Times to Post on Google+?

According to QuickSprout, the workweek is the best time to post to Google+. Weekends should be avoided.

FastCompany also recommends posting on Google+ during the workday since it’s a professional social media tool.

Conclusion

Now that you have a fair idea about the best times to post on social media, it’s time to put this data into action. I highly recommend you try social media scheduling apps such as Buffer and Hootsuite to post content on social media. Both these tools offer powerful analytics data which can further help you optimize your engagement.

Schedule content during the aforementioned optimal times and see if you notice an increase in social engagement and traffic.

What is the best time to post social media, according to you? Have you seen higher engagement for your posts on social media at a certain time? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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Sandeep Mallya is the Founder/CEO of Startup Cafe, a Bangalore-based digital marketing agency. He is an active member of the startup community, having worked with several early-stage startups and accelerators. 99signals is Sandeep's inbound marketing blog. Here you can find tips and insights to grow your site's traffic.

4 COMMENTS

Hey! Nice article
Found really unique and amazing post on 99signals.com all the time.
If you are dealing with the social media marketing then it is better to follow the perfect time mentioned here in this article.

Thanks for the post. I have seen good engagement on some pages when posting between 6pm and 8pm and also during afternoon hours. I believe FB users do check through accounts during their lunch breaks .Google+ is another platform that is mostly ignored by most which has potential if utilized the right way.

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Hi there! I’m Sandeep Mallya, the owner of 99signals. I’m also the founder/CEO of Startup Cafe Digital, an inbound marketing agency in Bangalore.

I’ve been an active member of the startup community, having worked with several early stage entrepreneurs in India, USA, and Singapore. My agency was featured among “Top 10 Marketing Agencies in India in 2016” by Silicon India.

99signals is my personal blog. It is focused on SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing. The goal of this site is simple: to share inbound marketing strategies that have enabled me to build a successful online business. Read More about “About Sandeep Mallya”…

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ABOUT ME

Hi there! I’m Sandeep Mallya, the owner of 99signals. I’m also the founder/CEO of Startup Cafe Digital, an inbound marketing agency in Bangalore.

I’ve been an active member of the startup community, having worked with several early stage entrepreneurs in India, USA, and Singapore. My agency was featured among “Top 10 Marketing Agencies in India in 2016” by Silicon India.

99signals is my personal blog. It is focused on SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing. The goal of this site is simple: to share inbound marketing strategies that have enabled me to build a successful online business. Read More about “About Sandeep Mallya”…

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